Gang-Related Issues Widespread in US, Aided by Internet

Even as the federal government focuses on gang-related criminal activity as an enforcement priority, helping to organize major raids and providing money to local authorities to enhance their efforts, widespread gang-related concerns aren’t likely to be easily resolved.

In Hartford, Conn., a plan to impose a 9 p.m. curfew, starting tomorrow, on all teenagers in the community for one month has drawn fire from the American Civil Liberties Union. It says the action unfairly punishes an entire group for the misbehavior of a minority of offenders, reports WTNH.

In Chicago, federal prosecutors say a former city alderman, Arenda Troutman, and a gang leader were romantically involved and participated together in a shady real estate deal, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. “Troutman pleaded guilty last week to shaking down developers in her 20th ward on the South Side,” the article states.

And in South Florida, a top prosecutor calls the gang problem a “national pandemic” that is being exacerbated by the Internet, which offers new opportunities for member recruitment and cybercrime, reports the Miami Herald.